By Chris Moran
The Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON, Texas — A drunken driver ended Lloyd Morrison’s 18-year career as a Houston police officer as he investigated a freeway traffic accident two years ago. So, when a suspected drunken driver ended the life of Officer Kevin Will on May 30 as he investigated a freeway wreck, Morrison decided it was time to tell City Hall what to do about it.
Morrison asked Mayor Annise Parker and the City Council last week to make road spikes standard-issue equipment in patrol cars that work freeway accidents. He rested his partially paralyzed right arm on a cane as he spoke at a lectern, telling the council that being a Houston police officer had been the greatest honor of his life.
“Any tools and equipment that we could use to save another life in the future I’m all for it,” he said. “If I could ever be of any assistance to the city of Houston, I’m a phone call away.”
Though Morrison is medically retired from the force, he was at the downtown police station in the middle of the night when Will was killed. He and his wife had hauled a hot dog cart to the station to feed the men and women working the same holiday weekend shift he had been on when he was hit.
That night in May 2009, Morrison recalled, he was out at the time he calls “0-drunk-30,” when bars close and patrons get behind the wheels of cars. Morrison pulled over to investigate a drunken-driving accident on the Gulf Freeway. While he was in his car, another drunken driver slammed into it.
Morrison was able to get out of his car to check on the second drunken driver when yet another drunken driver ran him over. The accident crushed most of the bones below his knees and nearly severed his right arm. Morrison joked that if he had had a less proficient trauma team, he’d now be nicknamed “Lefty.” His most recent surgery on the arm was just a month ago.
Parker noted that, prompted by a call to her office by Morrison’s wife, she had discussed the idea with the police. “They will consider it, although I know that there’s a concern that if you did something like putting road spikes down, if someone’s at a high rate of speed that that could create additional hazards at the scene, but it’s a worthy suggestion for follow-up, and we will do that,” Parker said.
Morrison was not discouraged. It takes time to change department policy. After all, it was only the past five years that wearing bulletproof vests became mandatory for most uniformed HPD officers, Houston Police Officers Union President Gary Blankinship said.
Told of Morrison’s idea, he said it sounded like a good one. The distance between the traffic barrier and Will was great enough, Blankinship said, that road spikes might have disabled the vehicle and saved Will’s life.
Morrison also suggested bringing in wreckers to block freeway lanes, even if they are not needed to haul away vehicles. While it may cost $50 or $100 an hour just to have them parked on the freeway, the cost of not having them there could be much higher, he said, pointing out that his own medical bills have topped $1 million.
Morrison said he is scheduled to meet with Police Chief Charles McClelland today, and he plans to ask that equipping patrol cars with road spikes be mandatory. “That’s how policies come about - because something happened,” Morrison said.
Copyright 2011 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company